RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Washington >> Walla Walla County >> Babcock >> Tidbits & TriviaIndex...

Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Babcock, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Babcock and the surrounding area.

  • Astronomy & Satellites ...
    • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
    • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Babcock:
    • 46.325693, -118.593319
    • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
    • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Babcock
  • Bird Watching ...
    • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
    • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Walla Walla County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Walla Walla County
    • Since Babcock is near Franklin County and also Columbia County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Franklin County
    • Open the eBird sighting report for Columbia County
  • Waymarking ...
    • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
    • Open the Waymark.com report for Babcock

Communities Also Named Babcock ...

We found thirteen communities that are also named Babcock.

Within Washington, the name Babcock is unique.

Beyond Washington, we know of thirteen communities that are located in the United States and Canada. Of these thirteen communities, twelve are located in the United States and one is in Canada.

  • Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
    • Colorado
      • Chaffee County
      • This community is historic<1> and although located in Chaffee County, we don't know where within the county.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Chaffee County community of Babcock.
    • Georgia
      • Miller County
      • This Babcock is located in Miller County and lies 2,086 miles [3,357.1 km]<2> to the east southeast of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Miller County community of Babcock.
    • Illinois
      • Peoria County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Illinois community of Babcock [Peoria County].
      • Rock Island County
      • This Babcock is located in Rock Island County and lies 1,432 miles [2,304.6 km]<2> to the east of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Rock Island County community of Babcock.
    • Indiana
      • Porter County
      • This Babcock is located in Porter County and lies 1,588 miles [2,555.6 km]<2> to the east of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Porter County community of Babcock.
    • Iowa
      • Bremer County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Babcock [Bremer County].
      • Linn County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information. For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Iowa community of Babcock [Linn County].
    • Manitoba
      • This Babcock lies 954 miles [1,535.3 km]<2> to the east northeast of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
    • Michigan
      • Calhoun County
      • This Babcock is located in Calhoun County and lies 1,681 miles [2,705.3 km]<2> to the east of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Calhoun County community of Babcock.
    • North Dakota
      • Sargent County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the North Dakota community of Babcock [Sargent County].
    • Pennsylvania
      • McKean County
      • We found mention of this community, but have little information.<3> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Pennsylvania community of Babcock [McKean County].
    • West Virginia
      • Fayette County
      • This Babcock is located in Fayette County and lies 1,989 miles [3,201 km]<2> to the east of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Fayette County community of Babcock.
    • Wisconsin
      • Wood County
      • This Babcock is located in Wood County and lies 1,382 miles [2,224.1 km]<2> to the east of the Babcock that is located in Walla Walla County.
      • For more information, please visit our profile page for the Wood County community of Babcock.

Curious and Interesting Names Near Babcock ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

  • Burr
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Burr is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burr
  • Climax
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Climax is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Climax
  • Clyde
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Clyde is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clyde
  • Eureka
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Eureka is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
  • Harvey
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Harvey is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
  • Hatch
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Hatch is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatch
  • Lee
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Lee is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee
  • Paddock
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Paddock is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paddock
  • Page
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Page is located in Walla Walla County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Page

How Far From Babcock to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Babcock to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Babcock and extending to:

  • Walla Walla, which is the Seat of Walla Walla County, lies 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> to the south southeast. If you could walk a straight line from Babcock to Walla Walla, with an average speed<4> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take just over a day to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of a day.
  • Olympia, which is the State Capital of Washington, lies 209 miles [336.4 km] to the west northwest (WNW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take a little over three hours, a buggy would take 9 days and walking would take 12 days.
  • The White House (Washington, DC) is 2,146 miles [3,453.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take 5 days, a buggy would take 84 days and walking would take 122 days.
  • The shortest distance<5> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,794 miles [10,933.9 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<6>
  • The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,560 miles [12,166.6 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<7>
  • The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,636 miles [9,070.3 km] and it lies to the north northeast (NNE).<8>'

Footnotes ...

<1>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Babcock, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Babcock) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer.

Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Rock Creek to see Pete ... Rock Creek is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name.

Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time.

Also keep in mind that Babcock could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out.
<4>While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day.
<5>The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Babcock to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Babcock. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 46.3257, Longitude: -118.5933       In this case, the coordinates for Babcock have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 337.728 degrees.
<7>The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 338.703 degrees.
<8>The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 325.434 degrees.